A Fox Returns

“Alright, I’ll follow Brother Han’s arrangement. But what about this corpse fiend? How do you intend to deal with it?” The white fox transmitted using divine sense.

“I’ll first see if the Gold Devourer Beetles can devour him. If not, it doesn’t matter. We can leave the monster to its own fate. Besides, I took the jade box that likely held his main soul. He won’t cause much trouble now.” Han Li glanced at the green-haired corpse fiend and spoke casually.

Then he slapped his waist with one hand, sacrificing a spirit beast pouch into the air.

Countless Gold Devourer Beetles swarmed out, forming a three-colored cloud several zhang in size that fell upon the corpse fiend.

A loud gnawing sound arose, but Han Li watched coldly for a moment and saw some of the beetles suddenly flip over and die, their original three-colored carapace instantly turning emerald green.

“Impressive corpse poison!” Han Li murmured, his expression shifting slightly.

After a brief hesitation, he softly chanted a command, and all the beetles rose again, returning to the spirit beast pouch.

“Although the corpse fiend’s poison isn’t among the world’s top ten lethal venoms, it’s certainly something your incompletely evolved beetles can resist,” the white fox said, its eyes spinning lazily.

Han Li snorted, gave the corpse fiend a cold look, and furrowed his brow.

This monster’s body was tough—probably far tougher than the venomous flood dragon they had encountered before.

Its flesh had only been gnawed to a tiny extent. At this rate, he would have to sacrifice nearly ninety percent of his three-colored Gold Devourer Beetles to completely destroy the monster’s body. Han Li naturally would not make such a losing bargain.

“Let’s go.” Han Li said without further hesitation.

“It will have to do. Leaving this corpse fiend might serve a purpose later!” The white fox nodded. Then an unusual light flickered on its body, and it split out a small yellow wolf.

As soon as the little wolf appeared, it opened its mouth at Han Li and the white fox, enveloping them in a yellow light. Then, in a flash, the man and the fox vanished from the stone chamber.

…

Outside the cliff, Senior Brother Wang, Kui Huan, and the others stood waiting with anxious expressions.

None of them knew the Earth Escape Technique, so they could only wait here for Han Li’s return.

“Senior Brother, do you think Junior Han succeeded?” Kui Huan could not restrain himself and asked Senior Brother Wang.

Hearing this, the other two also turned their concerned gazes toward him. Clearly, they all had considerable trust in Senior Brother Wang’s judgment.

“Hard to say. Logically, with Junior Han’s Qi Condensation tenth-layer cultivation, catching that demon fox would not be easy. But he has quite a few remarkable magical tools on him; he might give us a pleasant surprise. Whatever the outcome, it wouldn’t be strange.” Senior Brother Wang mulled it over and said with a wry smile.

Kui Huan and the other two exchanged glances upon hearing this.

The short, plump youth sighed and gestured with his injured hand as if to say something.

But just then, a flash of light suddenly appeared on the cliff wall, and from within a yellow glow, Han Li emerged holding the little fox.

“Junior Han!”

“He really caught the little thing!”

…

The group immediately surrounded him in delight, chattering excitedly.

“It was nothing. That demon fox was quite cunning and kept circling around inside. If it hadn’t run low on spiritual power, I probably wouldn’t have caught it so quickly.” Han Li said with a faint smile, then raised the white fox in his hand and tossed it to Kui Huan, who was diagonally opposite.

Kui Huan, momentarily stunned, caught it happily.

“Junior Brother Kui! Be careful not to let it escape again!” the short, plump youth quickly warned.

“Relax, I’ve got it under control.” Kui Huan lifted the white fox confidently.

Then he reached into his storage pouch, pulled out an emerald-green leather bag, and quickly stuffed the little fox inside.

“Heh heh! Let’s see where you run now with this Azure Cloud Bag!” Kui Huan said smugly as he quickly tied the bag shut.

Han Li glanced at the leather bag a few times and saw it was only a low-grade magical tool. He dismissed it from his mind.

“We really have Junior Han to thank for catching this demonic beast. We’re not ungrateful people. How about this: after the fox sells for a good price, Junior Han takes a full thirty percent for himself, and the remaining seventy percent is split equally among the four of us. What do you think?” Senior Brother Wang did not pay attention to the fox in the bag but instead addressed Han Li with sincere sincerity.

Hearing this, Han Li smiled faintly. He knew the other party was impressed by his skills and genuinely wanted to build a connection.

So he nodded without being overly modest and said:

“I leave it to Brother Wang to decide. I have no objections.”

Although the other three were a bit reluctant to lose some spirit stones, they also knew that without Han Li’s help this time, they would have come away empty-handed.

Thus, no one raised any objections.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Han Li excused himself on a pretext and separated from the four, flying alone toward his sect.

Senior Brother Wang and his group discussed it and decided to strike while the iron was hot, heading straight to a market town in the central region of Cloud Dream Mountain.

With many disciples from the three sects gathering there, they estimated the snow-cloud fox could fetch a high price.

So the three of them went in the opposite direction from Han Li and happily left the swamp.

After Han Li had traveled some distance from them, he casually found a small hilltop and landed. Then he sat cross-legged on a rock, closed his eyes, and rested.

He carried the jade ruyi, and the white fox would be able to sense its location and find him on its own.

About half an hour later, Han Li’s expression stirred, and he opened his eyes.

Almost at the same time, the ground in front of him flashed with yellow light, and the white fox leisurely emerged.

“You’re not slow,” Han Li said noncommittally, looking at the white fox.

“It wasn’t that I was fast, but those fellows actually used a low-grade magical tool to contain me—they underestimated me a bit. Those guys probably haven’t even realized I’m gone yet,” the white fox said, lifting its head with a grin, a hint of mockery in its eyes.

“Still, this means those Luo Yun Sect disciples worked for nothing. If the chance arises, I’ll give them some compensation,” Han Li said expressionlessly.

“If that’s the case, they will have gained from their misfortune,” the white fox shook its head leisurely.

“Enough with the nonsense. Shrink your form a little and hide in my sleeve. We’re going back now.” Han Li flicked his sleeve.

Hearing this, the white fox shrank rapidly in a flash of silver light. Then, with a white blur, it leaped into Han Li’s sleeve.

Since he had placed a restriction on the white fox, Han Li wasn’t afraid of it suddenly turning hostile. So he flew back along the way without concern.

Han Li did not return directly to his cave dwelling; instead, he took the white fox to the main peak of Luo Yun Sect.

Refining an artifact spirit required several materials and some special supporting tools.

The market town within the sect below the peak should have what he needed.

He planned to begin once he returned to his cave. Until he successfully bound this self-proclaimed Silvermoon spirit as his artifact spirit, he would not feel at ease with her.

Han Li’s material procurement went smoothly. He casually found a material shop and bought everything he needed.

Although these items were not common, they were neither rare nor precious. So no one questioned his purpose in buying them.

Han Li, carrying his materials and the white fox, flew back to the medicine garden satisfied.

But when he flew over the medicine garden, he found two people standing outside the garden’s defensive barrier, waiting for him.

One was Kui Huan, sighing with a dejected expression, and the other was Senior Brother Wang, with a dark frown on his face.

Seeing this, Han Li sighed inwardly.

He knew perfectly well why the two were here. But outwardly, he feigned ignorance and landed a short distance in front of them.

When Senior Brother Wang and Kui Huan saw Han Li return, they exchanged glances, both showing awkward expressions.

“Daoist friends, why are you back so soon? Did you sell the snow-cloud fox?” Han Li stepped forward, his expression unchanged.

“Well… we brothers have let you down, Junior Han,” Senior Brother Wang said with a wry smile after a moment of hesitation.

“Oh? What happened? Did something happen to the snow-cloud fox?” Han Li rubbed his chin and asked a question that startled the two across from him.

“Junior Han, how did you know?” Kui Huan’s eyes widened in surprise.

(The author says he has been very tired lately and the updates have been late; he hopes readers won’t mind. There will be another chapter tonight—best to read it tomorrow.)

(End of Chapter)